Thursday, August 12, 2010

MO Schoolroom Discussion and The Bookcase...

Double thickness book cases.
I am loving hopping around to see everyone's school rooms or areas or homes.  The creativity and forethought is amazing, while each is so different which reflects each family and their individual needs!
Here's mine!
Since I have had a schoolroom dedicated solely to homeschooling in the past that became a catch all and just a place where we were isolated from the living life of our home, it wasn't long before we got back into the family room/kitchen/dinning rooms of our home~sometimes all at once, but having figured out what works for us is such a blessing.

Messy bookcases=LIFE! lol!!
Hub who is ALSO a book addict built this bookcase for us.  It's in a room that hasn't seen the renovation that some of our home has, so it has still got its funky paint colors, bad flooring, while worn smells OK, and ceiling that the other night began to crash to the ground.  The plaster where the stairs begin is letting loose.  (You can read about the house renovations HERE!)  Anywho, this bookcase was designed as a LIFE SAVER for such a small home! I had about 750 PLUS books in boxes all over the floor of this room, and we had to have relief! (NOTE: This number does NOT include the Pastor's library which is housed in the Pastor's office which is housed in the church~THANK GOD! lol!!)

HOW DO YOU SPELL RELIEF??

NO...it's not...  (okaaaaay, maybe it is...LOL)

Spell: B O O K C A S E S!

And hub began working on his design~yes, you can copy it if you desire!

In these pics it looks like a normal bookcase.  DESIGNED this way~all but that it is double thickness!

What he did was built five cases in essence with two as wide as the three in front.  The heights are identical (almost to the ceiling), but there is trim that covers a slide mechanism so that the front cases move left and right so that the back cases are accessible.  The depth is standard for books/notebooks and the heights are adjustable. What you can't see also is a track that he's affixed to the floor of heavy plywood that heavy-duty casters roll on either side left to right but doesn't allow front to back movement.  The top slide mechanism is a piece to prevent moving front to back which would be disaster in all those books hitting the ground and ME! He used some trim, but for the most part they are pretty plain.

You will notice that I have knots in my wood which goes with what I like. Yours don't have to be this way as you can construct them from whatever you like.  He did use some maple for the trim.  I liked the dark stain, but I have other cabinets he's built that are natural and some that will be painted.  It's a toss up with me, so the beauty is you can have it the way you like to fit your home!  

I am sorry it's so messy, but this is HOW we live~wish I was a queen of clean, but...I can leave you with a quote from my mother which is MY OWN motto~ LOL...

I'm not a housekeeper; I'm a decorator!

Sooo true! And today it's questionable on the latter LOL!

Hope you find a help and use from hub's design.  I'm loving it!

3 comments:

Blossom Barden (NorthLaurel) said...

I love bookcases! I love them love them love them... We only have 6 (and that includes two that are in the kids' rooms) and I am seriously in need of more! Great pics :)
And love your sense of humor ;)

momma24 said...

My hubby wants to know if we can see more pictures and possibly get the plans for the bookcases??? Those are AWESOME!!

Michelle Smith said...

I love those bookcases. We have about 19 bookcases in our house and still have books in boxes! Now, my husband's library is at home but still, we need to get creative about putting the rest of them up. :)